I had the mpc 2000xl and the 1000 and I used Mashine now i'm all software ableton live. I u want my opinion the mpc are great machine but they are limited they are mainly phrase and drum samplers. Music making is more complex now with the use of keyboard , sample library etc... So the best you can do is to get a real DAW like logic or ableton or pro tools etc. And instead of getting Mashine, just get the NI Komplete because don't forget it's all about your Sound and komplete has tons of it. An just get a controler keyboard.With Mashine u are paying for the controller and the software has been cripled so it could not be a competition to NI Kontact their flagship sampler. If I was rich and i was asked to buy ever an MPC or Maschine , I would choose the MPC because I already have a DAW and akai are only making controller Now so buying the MPC would be like buying a piece of history 90 era Music and it will hold it's value even increase because they are the last hardware samplers. Hope it help. Check the NOTE REPEATER application from the MAC app store for the mpc note repeat type function. There is the video on youtube check it out